W o r ld ’s Greatest
Short Stories
N o . II.
A LO D G IN G
F O R T H E N IG H T
By Robert Louis Stevenson
Twenty-four famous authors were
asked recently to name the best
short story in the English lan­
guage. The choice of Booth Tar*
kington. Jack London, Alfred Henry
Lewis and Richard Harding Davis
was “A Lodging For the Night." by
Robert Louis Stevenson.
R O B iK I LOUIS
STEVENSON
BOOTH
TARKINGTON
face. Tlievenln. poor soul, w as in
P A R T I.
feather. He had done a good
T wns lute iu November, 14AA great
stroke of knavery that afternoou in
T he snow fell over P urls with tile
St. Jacques, and all
rigorous, relentless persistence. night Faubourg
gaining from Mon*
Som etim es the wind m ade a tlgny. he had been
•>.
«illy and scattered it in flying vortices;
"D oubles or quits?" said Thevenln.
som etim es there was a lull, and fluke
M ontlgnv nodded grimly.
a fte r fluke descended out of the black "Som
e may prefer to dine in state,"
night air. silent, circuitous, interm ina­ w rote Villon,
"on bread aud cheese on
ble.
plate. Or. or—help me out.
T he cem etery of St. John had tuken silver
< iu Ido!"
its own share of the snow. T he clock T abary giggled.
w us hard on 10 w hen th e patrol went "O r parsley on a golden dish.” scrib­
by w ith halberds aud a lantern, twat- bled the poet.
ing their hands, and they saw nothing T he wind w as freshening w ith o u t
suspicious alfout the cem etery of S t It drove the snow before It. T he cold
John.
w as grow ing *hnr|M»r.
Yet th ere w as a sm all house, backed "('an t you hear it rattle lu the gib­
up .against the cem etery wall, which bet V*‘ said Villon. "They are all danc­
w as still aw ake, aud aw ake to evil ing the devil’s jig ou nothing up there.
purpose, .u th a t aooting d is tric t There You may dance, my gallants. You'll
w as not much to betray it from with he none the w arm er. NVhew. w hat a
out. only a stream of w arm vapor from gust.* Down went somebody ju st now!
the chim ney top. a (Mitch w here the A m edlar the few er on the three leg
snow m elted on the roof and a few ged m edlar tree! I say. Dorn Nicolas,
half obliterated footprints at tbe door. it’ll be cold tonight on the St. Denis
B ut w ithin, behind the shu ttered w in­
:” he asked
dows. M aster F ra u d s Villon, the poet, ro T ad abary
laughed im m oderately over
and som e of the thievish crew with tin* m edlars He had never heard any­
whom he consorted, w ere keeping the thing m ore lighthearted, and he held
night alive and passing round the ln»t his sides and crowed Villon fetched
tie.
a fillip on the nose, which turned
A great pile of living em bers diffused him
his
m
irth Into an attack of coughing.
a strong and ruddy glow from the
•Oh.
stop th at row." said Villon,
arched chim ney Before this straddled "and think
of rim es to ’fish!* Look
Dom Nicolas, tbe Picardy monk, with s t Mon tlg n y !"
his skirts picked up and his fat legs All three peered covertly at tbe
bared to the com fortable w arm th. Ills gam
ester. He did not seem to be en ­
face had the beery, bruised apiiearance joying
his luck. Ills m outh wus a lit­
of the continual drinker's.
tle
to
a
one nostril nearly shut
On the right Villon and «illy T abary and the side,
other
Inflated. Tbe
w ere huddled together over a scrap of black dog w as on much
bis
back,
people
parchm ent. Villon m aking a ballad say. In terrifying nursery m as etaphor,
which he w as to cull the "B allad of and he breathed hard under the grew-
Roast Fish." and Tahar.v spluttering
burden
adm iration at his shoulder The | km *! souje
There
w as a brief and fatal move
w as a rag of a m an. dark, little and merit am ong
the gam esters. The round
lean, with hollow cheeks and thin, w >!U
H n ij
w u a ln «t
black lock* lie carried his four and opening Ins m outh to claim another
tw enty years with feverish anim ation. victory when M outigny leaped up sw ift
Oreed had m ade folds about his eyes as an adder and stubbed him to the
Evil sm iles bad puckered his mouth. heart. The blow took effect before he
T he wolf and pig struggled together In had tim e to u tte r a cry. before be
Ids face. It was an eloquent, sharp, had tim e to move. A trem or or tw o
ugly, earthly countenance. His hands convulsed his fram e. His bands open­
w ere sm all and prehensile, with fingers ed aud shut, bis heels rattled on tbe
knotted iike a cord, aud they w ere con­ floor, then his head rolled backw ard
tinually flickering In front of him in over one shoulder, with eyes wide
violent and expressive pantom im e open, and Thevenln Peusete’s spirit
As for Tahar.v. a broad, com placent, had returned to him who m ade It.
adm iring im becility breathed from bis
Every one sprang to his feet, but tbe
squash nose and slobbering lips He business w as over in tw o two«. "My
had l>ecotne a thief ju st as be might God!" said T nbary. and he began to
have lasom e tbe most d e te n t of bur­ pray in Latin
gesses by the In ju rio u s chance th at Villon broke out into hysterical
ru b * the lives of hum an geese and hu­ laughter. He cam e a step forw ard
m an doukeys.
and ducked a ridiculous bow at Tbeve-
At the m onk's other hand M ondgny nin and laughed still louder. Then he
and Theveuiu Pensete played a gam e sat down suddenly all of a heap upon
of rhauce. About tbe first there clung a stool and continued laughing bitterly
som e flavor of good birth and training, as though be would shake him self to
as about a fallen angel. Som ething pieces.
long, lithe nnd courtly lu the |*cn*ou:
Moutigny recovered his com posure
som ething uqutllue and darkling In the first.
m
*'Let h see wuut lie has ulnMit him."
I he rem arked, and he picked the dead
i m an's pockets w ith a practiced hand
| and divided the money into four equal
! portions on the table. **There’s for
| you." he said.
| T he monk received his share with a
! deep sigh, and a single stealthy glance
at the dead Thevenln. who w as begin­
ning to sink luto him self aud topple
sidew ays off the chair.
"W e’re all iu for it." cried Viilon.
sw allow ing his m irth. " It's a hanging
job for every man Jack of us th a t’s
here—not to speak of those who uren’t."
Then he pocketed Ills share of the »(Kill
and executed a shuttle w ith his feet as
if to restore the circulation
Tubury w as the last to help himself.
H e m ade a dash at the money and re­
tired to the other end of the room.
M outigny stuck Thevenln upright in
the «-hair and drew out the dagger,
which was followed by a jet of blood.
"You fellows had better be moving."
he said as he wi|>ed the blade ou his
victim ’s doublet.
"1 think we had." returned Villon,
with a gulp. "D — his fat head!" he
broke out. "It sticks in my throat like
phlegm W hat right has a man to
have red hair when he Is dead?" And
be fell all of a heap again U|K>n the
stool and fairly covered his face with
bis hands.
M outigny and Dom Nicolas laughed
aloud, even Tubury feebly chim ing in.
"Cry Imby!" said the monk.
"I alw ays said he w as a wom an,"
added Moutigny w ith a sneer. "Sit up
can’t you?" he went on. giving another
shake to the m urdered I hh I. v . ’T read
out th at tire. Nick!"
But Nick was better employed. He
was quietly taking Villon’s purse as
tbe poet sat limp and trem bling ou the
stool w here he had been m aking a bai
lad uot three m inutes before. Montig
n.v and To I wry dum bly dem andisi a
share of the booty, which the monk
silently promised us he passed the lit
tie hag bit«» the Isisom of Ills gown
In many ways mi artistic nature unfits
a m an for practh'ul existence.
No sooner bad the tlieft been accolli
plDhed than Villon *lu*ok himself.
Jum ped t«> his feet and began helping
to scatter aud extinguish the eml>ers
M eanwhile Montigli! opened the door
and cautiously (teoreti bit«» the street
T he «-oast was »-lour. T here was no
m eddlesom e patrol in sight. Still it
was Judged w iser to slip out severally,
and Villon was the first by general «sin
sent f«» Issue forth
T he wind had trium phed and swept
all the elonds from heaven. Only a
few vu|s>rs as thin as moonlight th*et
ed rapidly across the stars. It wus
bitter «-old. and by a common optical
effect, things seem ed alm ost more deli
ulte than i*i the broadest daylight. VII
Ion «•urseil Ids fortune W ould It were
still snowing! Now. w herever he
went he left an Indelible trull.
Tw o things pre«»coupled him as he
w ent, the aspect of the gallows at
M ontfaiicon in this bright, windy
phase of the night's existence, for one.
aud for another, the l«s»k of the dead
man w ith his bald head and garland of
red curl*. Both struck cold U( h » ii his
heart, and he kept quickening his pa«’e
as If lie could esrn|»e from unpleasant
thoughts by m ere fleetnes* of foot.
Suddenly he saw a a mg way before
him a him k clum p and a «-onpie of Ian
terns T he clum p was In motion, and
tbe lanterns sw ung ns though curried
by men walking. It was a patrol
Just on his left hand there stood a
great »Mitel, with som e tu rrets ami a
large |M»rch I»efore the d«w»r. It was
dark inside after the glim m er of the
snowy streets. and he w as groping for
w ard w ith outspread hands when he
aruuthled over som e siltiafance which
offered an Indescribable m ixture of ro­
sisi a nee«, bard aud soft. Arm and
loose. Hi* heart gave n leap, nnd be
sprung tw o steps t>uck aud stared
dreadfully at the obstacle. Then he
ga\ e a little laugh of relief. It wua only
a wom an, am i she dead He knelt be*
side her to m ake sure upon this latter
( m »1 iit. She wna (reeziug cold aud rigid
like a stick. A little rugged finery
fluttered in the wind about ber balr.
To fc« continue Ì
Wanted:-
Hogs-Cattle-Sheep
The first carload of livestock has
already gone and I hope to make an­
other shipment, within two weeks.
I shall be in Estacada next Sat­
urday, Sunday and Monday and will
make calls through George, Garfield,
Springvvater, and at such other points,
as are needed.
Phone to Mr. Standish in Esta­
cada and he will furnish you the
market prices and give further infor­
mation regarding shipping and buying
dates.
Leave word with him if
you wish to have me call on you.
Remember, I pay cash on de­
livery for all livestock purchased and
I will gladly come to your place
and buy there, if you prefer.
C. E. LUCKE
Livestock Buyer.
Palace Meat Market
Fred Jorg, Proprietor
Lard, Eggs, Butter, Sausage
Fresh and Smoked Meats
Fresh Fish every Friday
Buy and Sell Veal,
Hogs, Sheep, Cattle
Poultry and Hides
Phone Main 8 3.
Broadway
Estacada, Oregon